


The Old Lie

by soidiallednine



Series: How Fitting and Sweet [6]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Spy, Angst, Enemies to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, War, Wordplay Fic Challenge (One Direction)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:21:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26018695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soidiallednine/pseuds/soidiallednine
Summary: The planets Walloq and Traj have been at odds for nearly a century. If nothing is done soon to stop the war, the future of both worlds may be lost. Louis Tomlinson is a member of the Trajan resistance, operating undercover on Walloq. He hopes his mission will bring the resistance closer to ending the war and, in the process, save what’s left of his family. Dr. Harry Styles is the son of the president of Walloq, pampered and privileged - and the target of Louis’s mission. Harry is also playing a secret role in the conflict, one that puts him in grave danger on his home planet. When Louis’s cover is blown, he needs to flee Walloq and try to make it back to Traj safely. Whether he likes it or not, Harry is coming along for the ride.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: How Fitting and Sweet [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817845
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	The Old Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Finally the last part! Thank you so much to everyone who stuck with me despite this taking far longer than intended. I appreciate it. My next fic will not be a WIP, I promise. And thank you to everyone who has read HFaS and offered such kind words. This is basically the first fic I've ever written (aside from a drabble for last year's Halloween fest) and I wasn't sure I could do it. I appreciate the encouragement from everyone along the way.
> 
> A major thank you to Shannon for being my beta and making sure that what you're reading is coherent and, hopefully, enjoyable. I couldn't have done it without her.
> 
> There was no prompt for this part, so I returned to the poem from which I took initial inspiration, which can be found [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_et_Decorum_est). If you enjoyed this fic, please like or reblog the ficpost found [here](https://soidiallednine.tumblr.com/post/622909837066518528/how-fitting-and-sweet-by-soidiallednine).

Months passed. Harry made himself a home in Haven. A home without Louis but in all ways totally influenced by Louis. 

Harry was proud of his work as the camp’s doctor. He treated wounds, small and large, childhood illnesses, and chronic aches and pains. He administered vaccines when they could get some from the health authority and taught good hygiene and personal safety when they couldn’t. Nine people passed, only one of whom could truly be considered to be old, but Harry delivered more than a dozen babies. He hoped the scales balanced in his favor for the good he brought to the camp.

Lottie welcomed him into the family as if he’d always been there. He told her that Louis had been called back to duty, and she accepted it without question, though Harry knew that she thought there was more to it than simply his leave being up. No one else asked questions either, or questioned Harry’s presence in the camp. Whether because they appreciated having a doctor, because they were used to so many just disappearing into the fog of the war, or because Trajans had learned it was best not to look too closely at anything, everyone accepted that Louis was gone and Harry was alone. No one ever questioned that Harry was Trajan, either, at least not that he knew of. Whenever he made a faux pas or revealed his ignorance of Trajan customs, he laughed it off as being from the other side of the planet and everyone seemed to accept it. People didn’t ask about the future or the past, and Harry learned not to think too much about either, as well. Living in the present was easiest. 

Harry became quite friendly with Liam. Lottie became even friendlier. Six months after Louis left, Liam and Lottie married. Harry was thrilled for his new friend and family. After so many years having to care for her siblings, Lottie deserved someone who loved her and cared for her like Liam did. Even before Liam and Lottie had gotten together, Harry had realized that Liam held no torch for Louis. He was one of the few who talked about Louis, though, and Harry was happy to learn more about who his husband had been growing up, before all the war and trauma. Liam seemed totally devoted to Lottie, and Harry hoped their marriage was long and happy.

Phoebe had been a great assistant for Harry, and he had helped her prepare for the health academy entrance exams, which she passed with flying colors. In just a few months’ time, she would be moving to Castr to start her studies. She was excited and really nervous, particularly because Daisy was going to stay in Haven and run the community garden program. They’d never been apart before. Harry did what he could to get her ready for life in a big city, though he knew his advice wasn’t perfect because the cities he’d lived in on Walloq were so different from Castr.

So, life went on. Without Louis. Each night Harry went to sleep in the same bed he’d shared with Louis and remembered how sweet that last night was. He took meals with Louis’s family, and saw his eyes in all of their faces. He treated patient after patient who bore many of the same scars as Louis and learned what he could about their lives in the hope that one day he could use his experience to help Louis heal, too. Months after arriving at Haven, Harry could barely remember his old life on Walloq. He knew there was a bigger world out there and that there were great struggles that he should probably be participating in, but all he could focus on were the small everyday struggles of the camp and waiting for Louis to come back.

It was a normal day eight months into Harry’s tenure in Haven that he was pushed out of his contented, narrow stupor and forced to re-engage with the wider world. Harry was working on updating some charts for the few patients he’d seen that morning when he heard Phoebe, who had been restocking the pharmacy shelves, gasp and yell.

“Lou! You’re back!”

Harry jerked his head up from his files and saw Louis hovering in the open doorway of the medical tent. Harry was flooded by conflicting emotions. He got up and rushed over to Louis, elated to see him there and yet also furious that he had left Harry alone for so long. Harry paused when he reached Louis, who just stood there, staring at him, not saying a word. Harry wasn’t sure how to react.

“Lou . . .”

Louis took a deep breath, but before he could say anything, Harry grabbed him and kissed him. The kiss wasn’t sweet, like theirs had been the night before he left. Harry channeled all his conflicted emotions into the kiss, slamming their lips together and clutching at Louis. 

While he didn’t push him away, Louis did not respond to the kiss either. Harry’s anger and frustration flared strong. He cut off the unrequited kiss.

“You. Left. Me. All. Alone.”

With each word, Harry shoved Louis, both hands to his shoulders. Louis just took the shoves, stepping back with each until he was actually outside the tent.

“Harry, I . . . I’m sorry,” Louis said weakly. And fainted to the ground.

* * *

When Louis finally awoke and became fully coherent again, he had to be told that he had been back in Haven for nearly two weeks. Louis remembered having been shot during his escape from the Trajan trade ministry office where he’d spent the last eight months undercover. His mission had come to a swift end when he tripped up a silent security measure hacking into the ministry’s top secret files. Enforcement agents had been deployed before Louis realized he needed to flee, and it was only his quick thinking and excellent training that had gotten him out of the building alive. 

Just as he was getting into a getaway car sent by the resistance, though, one of the agents got off a lucky shot that hit Louis in the lower abdomen. Luckily, the bullet passed through without too much damage, and the resistance medic was able to patch him up. As soon as he was debriefed and was able to pass along the information that he had been able to gather while serving as the secretary to the undersecretary of international trade development, Louis left Castr and headed home to Haven. He missed Harry, and he missed home. The last eight months had been a trial.

The day that he and Harry had landed on Traj and Louis learned of the plan to turn Harry over to be traded to his father, Louis’s relationship with the resistance had changed. He wanted justice for his family and an end to the war as much as ever, but he lost faith in many of the resistance’s leaders and their tactics. Too many people were deemed expendable for larger goals and yet little progress seemed to ever be made. Louis knew that the trade-off for protecting Harry would be a major mission, a sacrifice Louis was willing to make if it kept Harry safe. But he wanted the mission to mean something, to actually lead to real change. 

For a while, the resistance had suspected that senior officials from both planets were profiting from the war not only politically, but financially. Louis’s mission had been to infiltrate the trade ministry and try to find evidence that officials from both planets held shares in major arms manufacturers who profited from the unending battles. The hope was that publicizing that leaders were actively profiting from the war would lead to rebellions by the populations of the two planets. Louis wasn’t sure that it would make much difference here on Traj, where most people were too desperate and overwhelmed to focus on much more than daily survival, but perhaps it would on Walloq, which was, in theory at least, a democracy. 

That was where Harry would come in: he’d have to reveal himself as the Archer -- and President Styles’s son -- and appeal to the people of Walloq to remove the corrupt leaders from office. Louis hadn’t been able to explain any of this to Harry before he left. For one, if he had been caught, Harry would have been in serious danger. It was better he knew nothing. For another, Louis knew that Harry would have wanted to have been involved somehow. He didn’t want to take the chance that Harry interfered, thinking that he was helping somehow. Also, Louis had been on his own for so long that he didn’t really know how to accommodate another person into his plans. 

So, Louis spent months acting as a secretary in the ministry and collecting whatever documents he could find that seemed relevant. Each night he went home to an empty apartment, uploaded the documents he found to a resistance server, ate a paltry dinner, and went to sleep, dreaming of Harry nearly every night. The next day, he did it all again. Every once in a while, he was able to meet up with Niall or one of the other resistance technicians to get new equipment or pass on intel. Louis did his job -- he knew it was important -- but he was numb to everything except getting it over with and getting out alive. Harry had only been part of his life for a few weeks, but he’d changed everything. As soon as this plan was finished, he was done with the resistance. For the first time ever, Louis had some optimism about what his life could be.

Assuming Harry would have him, of course. Louis hoped that he’d left Harry with enough signs that he intended to come back, but he couldn’t be sure until he returned to Haven. Perhaps Harry thought that Louis had abandoned him and had never cared for him at all. Perhaps when Louis got back to Haven, Harry would demand that he be returned to Walloq. For eight months, Louis worried constantly about how Harry would react when he returned.

And then his cover was blown and he’d been shot. He was returning to Haven months early, not that that Harry would know that, of course. The resistance medic had patched him up and said he’d be fine, but as Louis made the long drive out to Haven, he knew that everything was not fine. He felt flushed and more and more achy as he approached the camp. By the time he was able to park and walk to the medical tent, Louis was so faint he wasn’t sure he’d make it. 

Louis didn’t remember his reunion with Harry, though Phoebe had been by to tell him that it had been rather dramatic. His last memory of that day was parking and entering the camp. The next thing he knew, he awoke with Phoebe tending to him and telling him that he’d developed an infection and fever. She told him that he’d been in one of the beds in the medical tent for two weeks, and that he was lucky that they had received a shipment of antibiotics from the health authority just a few days before his arrival. Often there wouldn’t have been enough to treat an infection as severe as his. Phoebe assured him that his infection was gone and that, while it would take him a few days to regain his strength, he would make a full recovery.

So, for several days after getting over his fever, Louis laid in bed in the medical tent and everyone came to see him, bringing small gifts and well wishes. He had been shocked to learn of Lottie and Liam’s marriage, but wished them well when he saw how devoted Liam seemed to be. Daisy came one afternoon and spent hours with him, updating him on all the gossip around camp for the last several months. Phoebe was with him, or at least somewhere in the tent, almost all the time. She brought Ernie and Doris by a few times, and they delighted Louis with their antics. He hadn’t had so much time to spend with his family in years, and Louis was sure he could get used to this.

Despite all the visits and love of his family, though, Louis felt incomplete. Harry never came over to him. Phoebe said that Harry had treated him while he was unconscious with fever, but since he had awakened, Harry stayed far away. Louis knew that Harry was typically in the tent during the day, treating other patients and working in his office area on the other side of the space. But Phoebe was the only one who brought him medications and food or helped him change his bedding. Since he’d left, a small latrine and bath had been built adjacent to the medical tent, so he was able to do that on his own. Harry totally ignored him.

Louis had been afraid that Harry’s reaction to being left behind in Haven would be like this. He’d finished the floor for him and he’d left the letter and medallion to try to say that he’d return if he could, that Harry was his home. But Louis had also known that what he was going to do was dangerous, and he might never be able to return home. He’d tried to convey his intentions without promising anything. Perhaps that hadn’t been the right way to go.

Four days after Louis had woken up, he was anxious to get out of the medical tent. The medication and Phoebe’s excellent care had helped him improve significantly. When Phoebe brought him some lunch and his midday meds, he raised the subject of his release.

“Phoebs, when can I go home? I think I’m healthy enough to be on my own. And I promise to take all my meds like a good boy. Surely, you need this bed for someone else now, don’t you?”

“I’ll have to ask Harry, Lou, but I agree that you’re probably ready soon.”

“Thanks, Phoebe. You know, if Harry wants to know how good I’m doing, he’s welcome to come over and ask.”

Phoebe looked away. Louis wasn’t sure if his family had realized that Harry was avoiding him, but Phoebe couldn’t have been unaware.

“Yeah, well, I’ll mention that to him. Now, eat your lunch. There are some great tomatoes on that sandwich that Daisy is really proud of.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Louis smiled at his little sister, ordering him to eat his lunch.

They chatted while he ate, and then Phoebe cleared away his tray.

“I’ll try to get Harry to come over, Lou, but please be gentle with him. He’s been, well, he’s been a bit of a mess the last few weeks.”

“A mess?”

“He was sure you were going to die, Lou. He did everything he could, but really, he just had to sit and wait for the medicine to work. He never left your side except when he had another patient to deal with. Even then, he’d only go if I was here to tend to you. I had to bring him food and force him to eat. A few times I managed to get him to sleep in one of the other beds, but he was here the whole time. I’m not sure why he backed off once you woke up, Lou, but he was sick with worry for you. He may need a bit of time to accept that you are going to be OK.”

Louis listened to what Phoebe was telling him and his heart clenched. He had abandoned Harry, only to show up months later so sick that Harry thought he was going to die right in front of him. Louis was so sorry that he’d put Harry through all that. Hell, he was sorry for everything that he’d put Harry through from the moment he’d dragged him out of that office back on Walloq. Harry was a good man, he had been living a good life. He hadn’t deserved to have been pulled into Louis’s disastrous life. 

“Thank you for telling me, Phoebe. I promise I will be gentle with him. I love him, and I’m sorry that I’ve put him through this.”

Phoebe gave Louis a pat on the arm and left to dispose of the lunch scraps. Louis settled back for a bit of a nap. That had been the first time he’d said that he loved Harry out loud, but Louis had known it for ages. Louis loved Harry with all his heart and, somehow, he would make Harry see that. Hopefully that would be enough to keep Harry with him.

* * *

Harry stood outside the door to his home and took a deep breath, steeling himself for what was to come. Unconsciously, he grabbed the bronze moon medallion that hung from his neck. Earlier that afternoon, he had released Louis from the medical tent, though he hadn’t gone over to examine him himself, which was clearly a dereliction of his medical duty. He had been observing him closely, however, despite keeping his distance, and knew that he was healthy enough to be released. Plus, he trusted Phoebe’s assessment.

“Just trust him, Harry,” Phoebe had said. She had been talking explicitly about Louis’s sense of how strong he was, but Harry could tell she meant more than that.

Trust him.

Harry had learned to trust Louis after their adventure together. But then, after a blissful night when Harry had felt that they fully trusted each other enough to plan a future together, Louis had left him without telling him what the plan was or where he was going. How could he trust Louis if Louis hadn’t trusted him?

Harry entered and found Louis sitting on the couch, clearly waiting for him to come home. He was wearing, of all things, Harry’s Master Baiter sweatshirt. The sweatshirt that had been missing since Louis left.

“Harry!” Louis stood up quickly, swaying a bit once on his feet. He sat down quickly. “Oh!”

Harry rushed over to him.

“Lou! Are you OK? Here, just sit back. I’ll get you some water.”

Harry went to the kitchen area to get a glass of water from the jug on the counter, and brought it back to Louis. He sat next to him on the couch and held it to Louis’s lips.

“Small sips, Lou,” Harry said, as he tilted the cup for Louis to drink from.

Louis took a small sip and then smiled. “Thank you, Harry. I appreciate it, though I think I’m strong enough to lift a cup of water.”

“Oh!” Harry flushed, moving back a bit and setting the cup on the old trunk that was serving as a coffee table. “As long as you’re OK. You may want to move slowly for a while, not tax yourself too much.”

“Yes, doctor.”

Louis and Harry sat and stared at each other. Now that the urgency of Louis’s faintness had passed, it seemed neither knew what to say or do. Harry rubbed his hands on his pants legs, nervous, but unwilling to be the first to break eye contact.

“Harry -- “

“Lou --”

Both of them tried to talk at the same time. They laughed, and Harry was glad some of the tension had been broken.

“Go ahead, Lou.”

Louis took a deep breath, his eyes flitting around but coming back to rest on Harry as he began to speak.

“Harry, I cannot begin to apologize enough for what happened. I had no idea that I would have to leave that morning. I thought I had more time.”

“But you knew all along you were going to leave.”

“Well, yes. That was the deal I made so that you could come here. It was the only thing we could come up with where we could benefit from your presence here but wouldn’t put you in danger.”

“I still don’t know where you were, Lou. What you were doing.”

“The details aren’t that important, but I went undercover to get information that will expose some of the leaders of both Traj and Walloq as war profiteers.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“And then some. A lot more people are involved than we have suspected.”

“Including my father?”

“Yes.” Harry wasn’t surprised, but it still hurt to hear that someone related to him was making money off the deaths of so many. “So what happens now?”

“Well, when I left Castr over two weeks ago, some analysts were going through the data to put together something that we can publish both here and on Walloq.”

“I’m guessing that’s where I come in?”

“Yes. Well, it’s where the Archer comes in, but the resistance thinks if you’re willing to expose your identity publicly, that will do even more to publicize the information.”

“I have a choice?” Harry asked, bitterly.

Louis looked away.

“I’ll make sure you have all the choices, Harry,” Louis said softly. 

“So far I haven’t had many at all.”

Louis stood, swaying a bit, but gaining his equilibrium quickly. He began to slowly pace in front of the couch.

“I know. And that’s another thing I’m sorry for. Harry, I am so sorry for everything.” Louis stopped pacing and stood in front of Harry. Harry looked up into Louis’s face. He could see the honesty, the pleading, in his beautiful eyes. But how many times had Louis apologized while still holding back secrets? Still planning to betray him?

“I’m not sure ‘sorry’ is enough, Lou. I’ll do what you want, of course, because I have no other choice. But what happens after that? What happens after two planets know I’m the Archer, that I’m working with Trajan resistance? I’ll be a wanted man on two planets.”

“Actually, I’ve thought about that Harry and I have a plan.” Louis sat next to Harry again, and took his hands in his, angling their bodies toward each other.

“You have a plan or the resistance has a plan? I haven’t been too fond of the resistance’s plans so far.”

“This one is all me. I don’t think we have to reveal that you have any connection with Traj or the resistance at all. Many of the documents I found could have been found by someone with the right hacking skills. There’s no reason to think that only someone who infiltrated a government agency obtained them. I kept a copy of everything on a hard drive that I’ve hidden in Castr. Not even Niall knows about it. My plan is to go get those documents and prepare a message for your father, telling him that we will expose him if he doesn’t make sure that no one knows that you are on Traj. I think, with his cooperation, that we can fake your death, Harry.”

Harry gasped, “What?! My death. What about my mother and sister.”

“I’ve thought about that. I think part of our demands will be that they be informed of where you really are. They’ll keep quiet to protect you, won’t they, Harry? And your father will do what we ask to protect himself. The easiest thing would be for them to say you died of an overdose while in treatment. No one here knows who you are. The resistance will keep quiet, especially if you then use your Archer identity to expose everything.”

Harry slumped back against the couch, his hands still in Louis’s. Louis was looking at him desperately, seeking some sign of agreement.

This plan would change his life irrevocably. It would also ruin any reputation he left behind. But, Harry realized, his life had already changed forever. If he chose to remain here, to remain with Louis, only something this dramatic would make it possible. With his father knowing who he was, he could never return to Walloq safely. Going along with Louis’s plan would tie him forever to Louis and to Traj, though.

“I have a bunch of questions, Lou? I thought the resistance wanted me to expose this information using my real identity. Are they going to be ok with just the Archer? And won’t my father go back on whatever he promises once we make everything public?”

“We’ll figure it out, Harry. Maybe we create some story about the information release being triggered by your death or something. And your father can’t do anything to you if he doesn’t have power, especially here in Haven.”

“Do you really think this information is enough to take him down? To take all these people down?”

“I hope so, Harry. For the first time perhaps ever, I’m optimistic.”

Harry smiled. “I’m happy you’re optimistic, Lou.”

Louis blushed and ducked his head. “Yeah, well, I have to be now that I have something to live for.”

“And what is that?” Harry thought he knew, but he needed Louis to say it. So much had been left unsaid between the two of them in the past. If they were going to have a future together, they needed to say things out loud.

Louis looked up and shifted both of them so that they were turned to face each other on the couch. He grabbed Harry by the shoulders, an intensity in his eyes that Harry hadn’t seen before.

“Harry, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know I don’t deserve you, but I will do everything in my power to make sure you are safe and happy if you do me the honor of staying with me and being my husband. Truly my husband.”

The anger Harry’d held onto for months faded away. He knew now that the anger was mostly fear that Louis would never return, that he didn’t even know where he was and couldn’t help. Harry knew Louis’s plan was dangerous; nothing would be as easy as Louis made it sound. But Harry was willing to take the chance if it meant they could try to make a life together. Love wasn’t a perfect state of honesty or a lack of danger, it was the willingness to face life as a team. To devote each and every day to making sure the other knew that they were the most precious thing in the universe.

Harry leaned forward and softly kissed Louis.

“I would be honored, Lou. I love you, too.”

Louis smiled ecstatically and pulled Harry into a tight hug.

“Now, please tell me why I’m called Matchstick,” Harry mumbled into Louis’s shoulder.

Louis just laughed.

“A boy’s gotta have some secrets, Harry.”


End file.
